Raimbaut de Vaqueiras

__NOTOC__Raimbaut de Vaqueiras or Riambaut de Vaqueyras (floruit 1180-1207) was a Provençal troubadour and, later in his life, knight. His life was spent mainly in Italian courts [Amelia E. Van Vleck, "The Lyric Texts" p. 33, in "Handbook of the Troubadours" (1995), edited by F. R. P. Akehurst and Judith M. Davis.] until 1203, when he joined the Fourth Crusade.

As his name suggests, Raimbaut came from Vacqueyras near Orange, France. He spent most of his career as court poet and close friend of Boniface I of Montferrat. He served with him in action against the communes of Asti and Alessandria. Raimbaut claimed he earned a knighthood through protecting Boniface with his shield in battle at Messina, when they took part in Emperor Henry VI's invasion of Sicily. He was present at the siege and capture of Constantinople in 1204, and then accompanied Boniface to Thessalonica. His writings, particularly the so-called "Epic Letter", form an important commentary on the politics of the Latin Empire in its earliest years, after which they suddenly cease: it is generally presumed that Raimbaut died on 4 September 1207, together with Boniface, in an ambush by the Bulgarians.

The only critical edition of Raimbaut attributes 33 extant songs to him; only eight of the associate melodies have survived. He used a wide range of styles, including a "descort" in five languages, "cansos", "tensos" and "albas"; he, with Perdigon and Ademar de Peiteus, invented the "torneyamen" (or at least left us its earliest example). One of his songs, "Kalenda Maia", is referred to as an "estampida" and is considered one of the best troubadour melodies. However according to the "razó" he borrowed the tune from two musicians. This would explain why the song is called an "estampida" when it is theoretically a purely instrumental piece.

Vaqueiras in fiction

In 1922, Vaqueiras was the subject of a verse drama by Nino Berrini, "Rambaldo di Vaqueiras: I Monferrato". Strongly derivative of Edmond Rostand's "Cyrano de Bergerac" and "La Princesse Lointaine", it presents a highly romantic, fictionalised image of the poet, in love with his patron's daughter Beatrice. At the end, he returns, mortally wounded, from Thessalonica, to die in her arms.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.trobar.org/troubadours/raimbaut_de_vaqueiras/ Complete works online]

Bibliography

*"The poems of the troubadour Raimbaut de Vaqueiras" ed. and tr. Joseph Linskill. The Hague: Mouton, 1964.
*Berrini, Nino, "Rambaldo di Vaqueiras: I Monferrato". Milan, 1922.